I pause for a moment to bite back the bile in my throat, and Juniper clasps her hands around mine, encouraging me to go on.
“The moment we crossed the bridge, they were there. The Nether’s henchmen—demons like North and I, though much less powerful. I realized when they tried to put me in chains that this wouldn’t be as simple as I thought. I got us free, and we ran back to the human world. I fought for her at every turn, but one day, I made a mistake. I left her to take care of what I later realized was a diversion. I thought she was safe. And when I realized they took her, I accidentally froze the entire town we were in. I went back to the Nether Realm to find her, and I was put in chains that I couldn’t break. Trolls beat me to the point that my magic began to bleed. And when my demon friends refused to beat me further, the Council turned to the fae. Any demon who spoke or worked against them was locked up, some tortured and killed because of me… I begged to talk to my mother. I thought if I just appealed to her, if I could get her to see how much Adeline meant to me, that she meant no harm to the rest of us, she’d agree. She’d let us be together. I thought my mother loved me, but… Soon after, I was brought in front of the Council, and that day, I realized it was my mother who orchestrated our capture. She’s the one who pushed for the Codex enforcement, for me to be beaten, my friends to be killed, and she made me watch that day as she slit Adeline’s throat herself.”
Juniper gasps, hands pressing against her mouth.
I shake my head at myself, cursing how stupid I was. “The moment Adeline died, it was like every ounce of magic left in my veins disappeared. I stopped fighting and swore none of it was worth it. And I sat in that cell for centuries. North visitedso many times. He begged me to fight. It didn’t feel worth it. Eventually, he managed to get them to strike a deal. I could be free as long as I worked for the Council in the winter. A boring desk job that only allowed me out of their sight so long as North was with me. It wasn’t that our mother trusted North. She just doesn’t think he’s smart enough to come up with a plan against her that might actually work.”
I can see the insult on Juniper’s face from the corner of my eye, and my lips flicker as if I’m going to smile.
“She underestimates him, and that might eventually be her downfall,” I add.
Juniper fumbles with her hands a moment as she takes in my story. “So… the trolls. The fae at the bar. They’re all here because of me?”
I reach for her face, my heart sinking at the fear in her eyes. “We won’t let any of that happen to you.”
“How can you be so positive? If you don’t have your magic?—”
“Juniper, you’ve given me life again. You’ve given me a reason to fight, to want to be on this side of the cage. The past few decades, I’ve only gone through the motions. I haven’t tried to break free. I’ve been haunted by the images I can’t shake. Yet every time I look at you, every moment we’re together, I feel my magic getting stronger.”
“Have you gotten any letters?” she asks.
I swallow, teeth clenching, and her shoulders fall.
“How many?”
“Two,” I answer. “I expect the third will be here tomorrow.”
Her eyes widen. “What happens on Sunday?”
I hold her gaze for a moment longer and squeeze her fingers. “They come after us.”
Her jaw begins to quiver, eyes blinking over and over like she can blink back her fear.
“I have a plan,” I say fast.
“You fucking better,” she whispers. “What’s the plan? I don’t want to die?—”
“You’re not going to die. Never, if we can help it,” I say, and she squints at me.
“What?”
I shift on the bed, trying to choose my words carefully. “There’s a binding enchantment. Between North and I, we can make it strong enough that it’ll hide you from any Nether creatures. When they look for you, they’ll look for the human. This spell would change that. You’d appear like one of us.”
“What, I’d be a demon?” she asks.
“No. It would hide your human scent and confuse or scare anything looking for you. You’d be covered in our magic, in our marks. Ice and snow and fire at once. That means something to many of these creatures.”
“Would that keep them from coming after us?” she asks.
“It’ll buy us time to run. I’ll be able to build up my magic so that by the time we’re forced to go back on the equinox, we’re ready.”
“Why do you have to go back?”
“If we don’t, she’ll tear apart this world to find us. Everything will fall apart. It’ll be eternal chaos,” I answer.
“So… we’ll have to run? I’ll have to leave my home? My life? My friends?”
Shit.
